Governance

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Zero enforcement
= deadwood laws

by Che de Los Reyes and Karol Anne Ilagan

THE COMMISSION on Elections has spelled out campaign finance rules that are clear about spending limits, reporting requirements and deadlines, and penalties. The clarity ends on paper, however.

The poll body has hardly enforced its rules, giving candidates and political parties free pass to circumvent and mock these, get away with patent violations, and even run again in the next elections. To date, no candidate for national office has been penalized for any violations, despite evidence that the rules have been played around with, and not so innocently.

Read more... | Posted Thursday, August 12th, 2010
PCIJ audit of election expense reports

All right to lie, cheat, bluff?
Election laws gray, untested

by Che de los Reyes and Karol Anne Ilagan

IT WAS 1992; Fidel V. Ramos had just been voted as president, and Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada as vice president. Presidential bet Miriam Defensor Santiago was crying foul, saying she had been cheated. She would later file an electoral protest, but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) was apparently more interested in something else: conducting its first ever audit of the campaign contributions and expenses of candidates for president, vice president, and senators for the then recently concluded polls.

The Comelec, then headed by Christian Monsod, seemed serious, and even formed a committee to examine the books of account of candidates, political parties, donors, and media entities. Lawyer Josefina de la Cruz, who became part of that committee, also recalls that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Commission on Audit (COA), and the National Bureau of Investigation served as Comelec’s “counterparts” in the initiative.

Read more... | Posted Thursday, August 12th, 2010
Sidebar

Risky start-ups?

by Roel R. Landingin

A CLOSE look at election spending reports of seven presidential candidates and three political parties in the May 10 polls reveals that election campaigns are funded in the manner and mold of financing for risky business start-ups.

Money comes mostly from personal funds, family members, and friends rather than a wide network of supporters of the political party, organization, or movement. In business, these private-equity sources of funding are ideal for ventures with low success rates but high pay-offs that are usually shunned by banks and the capital markets.

Read more... | Posted Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

Midnight appointments
Department of Tourism

Indicative List of ‘Midnight’ Appointments by ex-President Arroyo, Feb. 19 to May 5, 2010
Office of the President, Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations
Source: Former Senior Government Officials

Read more... | Posted Monday, July 19th, 2010

Midnight appointments
Department of Trade and Industry

Indicative List of ‘Midnight’ Appointments by ex-President Arroyo, Feb. 19 to May 5, 2010
Office of the President, Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations
Source: Former Senior Government Officials

Read more... | Posted Monday, July 19th, 2010

Midnight appointments
Department of Transportation and Communications

Indicative List of ‘Midnight’ Appointments by ex-President Arroyo, Feb. 19 to May 5, 2010
Office of the President, Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations
Source: Former Senior Government Officials

Read more... | Posted Monday, July 19th, 2010

Midnight appointments
Department of Health

Indicative List of ‘Midnight’ Appointments by ex-President Arroyo, Feb. 19 to May 5, 2010
Office of the President, Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations
Source: Former Senior Government Officials

Read more... | Posted Monday, July 19th, 2010

Midnight appointments
Department of Finance

Indicative List of ‘Midnight’ Appointments by ex-President Arroyo, Feb. 19 to May 5, 2010
Office of the President, Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations
Source: Former Senior Government Officials

Read more... | Posted Monday, July 19th, 2010

Midnight appointments
Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Indicative List of ‘Midnight’ Appointments by ex-President Arroyo, Feb. 19 to May 5, 2010
Office of the President, Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations
Source: Former Senior Government Officials

Read more... | Posted Monday, July 19th, 2010

Midnight appointments
Department of Energy

Indicative List of ‘Midnight’ Appointments by ex-President Arroyo, Feb. 19 to May 5, 2010
Office of the President, Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations
Source: Former Senior Government Officials

Read more... | Posted Monday, July 19th, 2010

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